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One year after the presentation of the European Water Resilience Strategy, EurEau – the European federation of water service operators, which currently brings together 38 national associations in 33 countries – published the report Europe’s Water in Figures 2026. The latest edition offers a detailed snapshot of the role of drinking water and wastewater services in the daily lives of over 550 million Europeans.

The statistical analysis, based on data provided by EurEau members and extrapolations developed by Fondazione Utilitatis, reveals a sector that is both robust and fragile: nearly universal access is moderated by underinvestments in infrastructure, price rates that remain low relative to the growing complexity of services, a skills crisis, and significant untapped potential for water reuse.

Nearly universal, yet vulnerable, access

Europe has one of the highest levels of access to water services in the world: 97% of citizens are connected to a public drinking water network, and about 90% have access to wastewater collection and treatment systems. This coverage makes water services an essential infrastructure: besides households, also hospitals, food industries, and numerous other critical services depend on it.

From the outset, however, EurEau urges readers to interpret these figures with a pinch of salt: “simply comparing country results may be misleading. Water services are adapted to their specific local circumstances”. Very differnt systems lie behind seemingly comparable percentages and these are shaped by geographical characteristics, resource availability, existing infrastructure, and the investment capacity of individual countries.

While the local context is crucial for a resource as deeply tied to the territory as water, the challenges facing water services have instead a systemic dimension. As Oliver Loebel, Secretary General of EurEau, explains to Renewable Matter: “There is no single systemic risk, as all of them are closely correlated. Fixing one problem while not tackling the others will not guarantee sustainable and resilient services in the future”.

In other words, high service coverage can convey a sense of security that does not reflect future challenges. Ensuring system’s resilience requires an integrated approach through an appropriate regulatory and framework and long-term investments. These are required to simultaneously address source pollution, the consequences of climate change, energy dependence, and infrastructure underinvestment. This message had already been summarised by EurEau in Ambitions of the Water Sector – Enabling Factors and it returns to the center of the analysis in the new report.

Underinvestment, aging infrastructure, and an employment crisis

The report Europe’s Water in Figures 2026 makes one fact crystal clear: Europe is investing too little and too slowly in its water infrastructure. Operators invest approximately 52.5 billion euros per year in networks and facilities, with a nominal increase compared to 2021. However, when adjusted for inflation, the figure indicates a decline in real terms. The renewal of water and sewer networks remains, on average, well below the levels required to prevent progressive deterioration. It is no coincidence that “infrastructure renewal” emerges as the number one challenge for national sectoral associations. After all, raising treatment standards without adequate renewal rates of facilities means placing ever-greater demands on increasingly aging infrastructure, with cumulative effects on leaks, reliability, and future costs.

With respect to human capital, moreover, the report openly refers to an “employment crisis”. The sector of water services employs over half a million full-time equivalent workers, with slight but steady growth. The sector is however struggling to attract new generations of highly skilled professionals capable of managing the growing complexity of processes to treat drinking water and wastewater. The average wage in the water sector, which was above the national average in 2021, has now fallen below it: from about 107% to 86% of the average wage (even lower in the EU-27 alone). The combination of uncompetitive wages and a limited perception of the social value of water-related work means that the average age of the workforce in the sector is significantly higher than the average across sectors in 11 out of 13 countries with available data.

Tariffs are too low given the challenges, but with social leeway for change

Another key element of the report is the economic paradox of water price rates. On average, European households spend around 1% of their income on water services. This share has decreased compared to five years ago, while the complexity of the services (including treatments for new pollutants, stricter standards, digitization, climate adaptation) has increased. In nominal terms, revenue from water bills has grown, but at lower rates than inflation: this has squeezed the resources available for maintenance and investment.

“The share of the water bill in overall household income seem to be lower today than five years ago, while the service complexity increases”, Loebele adds, reminding that social measures should be introduced for the weakest households. “Member states (and water operators) must raise the public awareness about the challenges of the sector and the need to invest so that services remain resilient for generations to come. Most water consumers are willing to pay more. Public support through EU funds (MFF) and national/regional/local budgets should be provided to support investment. In line with article 9 of the Water Framework Directive, the EU and member states should apply the polluter-pays principle to remove pollutants requiring costly extra-treatment (for example PFAS). This will protect water consumers from additional cost triggered by activities beyond their control.”

Reuse: great potential, small numbers, and major barriers

Perhaps the most telling figure in the report is the one on wastewater reuse: today, only a small fraction of the treated volume is actually reused, despite significant technical potential in many countries and across various applications (agricultural, industrial, and urban). As Loebel points out, treatment plants are “ready to step up supply”. In fact, they are technically capable of producing high-quality reclaimed water, but they are held back by a combination of costs, regulations, and perceptions.

The barriers include higher pollutant loads, that require more advanced and costlier treatments, the need to recover costs through water price rates in order to prevent reused water from being more expensive than extracting new water, the complexity of permitting and risk management processes, such as implementing the new Regulation on reuse, and the physical distances between treatment plants and end users. A persistent “reputational problem” compounds these issues, since reclaimed water is still perceived as less safe, especially for agriculture. Underlying it all the recurring message about correlated risks shines through: only through integrated strategies costs, governance, and public perception can be addressed, while reuse can become a pillar of European water resilience.

Cover: Envato